The CFLE Program
Nuts and Bolts
Certification for
Family Life Educators
• National Council on
Family Relations
(NCFR) sponsors the
only program to
certify family life
educators.
What Is FLE?
• FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION (FLE) is the
educational effort to strengthen family life
through a family perspective.
• The objective of family life education is to
enrich and improve the quality of individual
and family life.
Preventive and Educational
• FLE emphasizes processes to enable people
to develop into healthy adults, to help
people work together in close relationships,
and to facilitate the ability of people to
bring out the best in others.
• While various professionals assist families,
it is the family life educator who
incorporates a preventive and educational
approach to individual and family issues.
Family Life Education
Content Areas
10 Family Life Content Areas
• Families in Society
• Internal Dynamics of
Families
• Human Growth &
Development over the
Life Span
• Human Sexuality
• Interpersonal
Relationships
• Family Resource
Management
• Parent Education and
Guidance
• Family Law & Public
Policy
• Professional Ethics
• Family Life Education
Methodology
Careers Opportunities
In
Family Life Education
Family Life Education
• Family life educators work with individuals
and families in varying capacities. They
have specific training in family systems and
development that enables them to bring a
family perspective to their chosen career,
regardless of the employment sector.
FLE Employment Settings
• State, federal, & local
government
• Nonprofit and for-profit
organizations
• Social services
• Health promotion
• Military family support
• Parenting education
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Faith communities
University and colleges
Extension
Entrepreneur
Counseling
Communication
Business
Education
FLE Employment Venues
• Practice- teaching,
education, program or
curricula development,
• Administration leadership or
management, organizing,
coordinating, and
• Promotion - public
policy, lobbying,
advocating for system
change and awareness.
Certification
• Regular Application
Process
• Abbreviated
Application Process
Academic Program Review
• Because NCFR has
already approved
your school’s course
work in the 10
substance areas, the
certification process
saves you time and
money!
Regular Application Process
• Beginning in 2008, portfolio process
replaced with a CFLE exam
• Submission Deadlines each year:
September 3 & March 3
• $250 for NCFR members; $350 for nonmembers
• Graduates of NCFR-approved programs do
not need to take the CFLE exam
Abbreviated Application Process
• Graduates of NCFR-approved academic
programs can apply for provisional
certification through an abbreviated
application process. Each NCFR-approved
program has a checklist of pre-approved
courses. Graduates complete the checklist and
submit it along with the application and an
official transcript showing degree completion
and the application fee
• Complete within two years of graduation
Abbreviated Application Process
• Checklist
• No submission deadline, apply anytime.
• $75 fee for NCFR members, $105 for nonmembers
Provisional Certification
• Provisional Certification is intended for
applicants who have met the academic
requirements of the CFLE designation.
• Provisional CFLE’s upgrade to Full
certification status after they have
completed 2 years of Family Life Education
work experience.
Benefits of Abbreviated Process
• You save $$! It is less expensive and less
time intensive to apply under the
Abbreviated Process!
• No submission deadline; applications are
accepted at any time
• Provisional CFLEs can upgrade to Full
certification after earning two year’s
experience in family life education
Step by Step
Application
Process
WWW.NCFR.ORG
• Congratulations! You have completed the
first step to certification. You are attending
an approved school.
• Access NCFR’s comprehensive website.
• Go to the CFLE section of the site.
• Go to Abbreviated Application Process
• Go to CFLE Abbreviated Application Letter
and Form
WWW.NCFR.ORG
• Print the Abbreviated Application Letter and
Form
• Go to NCFR Approved Academic Programs
• Scroll down the list of approved schools
until you locate your school.
• Click on the checklist for your school.
• PRINT the checklist
It Pays to Plan Ahead...
• Consult the checklist
as you plan your
coursework within
your major.
Graduation!!
• Submit:
• An Official Transcript
• A Completed
Checklist
• The Application Fee
What about Substitutions?
• NCFR allows for
TWO Substitutions
• Substitutions MUST
cover required content
area (e.g. Infant
development is not an
acceptable substitute
for an aging class in
Substance Area #3)
More about Substitutions
• Remember:
• When substituting
classes, always submit
the class syllabus and
a brief description of
how the class met the
content area.
What if I Transferred Classes?
• NCFR accepts
transferred classes
from both approved
and unapproved
schools (e.g. If you
took Human Sexuality
at an unapproved
school it probably
covered the required
content).
Avoid the
Most Frequent Mistakes..
• Submit an OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT (not
a copy)
• Official Transcript must show DEGREE
COMPLETION.
• Substitute no more than 2 classes.
• Be sure they cover the required content
area.
• Become an NCFR member (It saves you
money)
Further Questions?
• Please feel free to contact Dawn Cassidy at
NCFR for any of your questions, concerns,
or comments. Dawn can be reached at
dawn@ncfr.org or toll-free at 888.781.9331
The Ten CFLE
Content Areas
10 Family Life Content Areas
• Families in Society
• Internal Dynamics of
Families
• Human Growth &
Development over the
Life Span
• Human Sexuality
• Interpersonal
Relationships
• Family Resource
Management
• Parent Education and
Guidance
• Family Law & Public
Policy
• Professional Ethics
• Family Life Education
Methodology
• PLUS…
Academic Internship
1. Families in Society
•
•
•
•
•
•
Kinship
Changing gender roles
Demographic trends
Historical issues
Work-family relationships
Societal relations
Structures and functions
• Cultural variations
• Marital choice
• Dating
• Cross-cultural and
minority families
• Courtship
SFL 370 OR 354
2. Internal Dynamics of Families
• Internal social
processes
• Communication
• Conflict management
• Normal family stresses
• Family crises
• Special needs in
families
SFL 160
3.Human Development over the
Life Span
• Prenatal
• Infancy
• Early and middle
childhood
• Adolescence
• Adulthood
• Aging
SFL 210 AND 334
4. Human Sexuality
• Reproductive
physiology
• Biological
determinants
• Aspects of sexual
involvement
• Sexual behaviors
• Sexual values and
decision-making
• Family planning
• Sexual response
• Sexual dysfunction
• Influence on
relationships
HLTH 436
5. Interpersonal Relationships
•
•
•
•
•
•
Self and others
Communication skills
Intimacy
Love
Romance
Relating to others
SFL 335 PLUS:
SFL 223 OR
SFL 224 OR
SFL 325 (formerly 329)
6. Family Resource Management
SFL 260
• Goal-setting &
decision-making
• Development &
allocation of resources
• Social environment
influences
• Life cycle and family
structure influences
• Consumer issues and
decisions
7.Parent Education and Guidance
SFL 240
• Parenting rights and
responsibilities
• Parenting
practices/processes
• Parent-child
relationships
• Variation in parenting
solutions
• Changing parenting
roles over the life
cycle
8. Family Law and Public Policy
• Family and the law
• Family and social
services
• Family and education
• Family and the
economy
• Family and religion
• Policy and the family
SFL 461 OR 489
9. Professional Ethics
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ethics of Professional Practice
Formation of values
Diversity of values in pluralistic society
Examining ideologies
Social consequences of value choices
Ethics and technological change
SFL 480 OR 498
10. Family Life Education
Methodology
• Planning and
implementing
• Evaluation
• Education techniques
• Sensitivity to others
• Sensitivity to
community concern
SFL 498
11. Academic Internship
• What is an internship?
– A work related
experience dealing
with the family in a
variety of settings
which is enhanced by
course work and
results in academic
credit.
http://familylifeinternship.b
yu.edu/
SFL 399R